A warning between now and November 4, 2008

The California Supreme Court’s lifting of the Same-Sex Marriage ban and its expected repercussions, both in California and Nationwide this November, reminded me of a joke I heard as a kid…

A farmer was at the market and while passing some livestock, looked down and saw a large, masculine rooster with wonderful plumage and features. The gentleman selling the chickens assured the farmer that the animal of his affection was an excellent replacement for the elderly one he had at home.

The farmer bought the animal and upon arriving home, set the rooster loose in the yard. After a short while, it spotted the old rooster and started to attack and become the head of the flock.

The other rooster may have been old and past his prime, but his intelligence was still sharp. As the young rooster approached he managed to stop him and said, “Listen, you don’t have to kill me. I won’t get in your way, I just want to live out the rest of my days in peace.”

The younger rooster was stopped for a moment, but then asked, “and how do you expect to do that?”

“I’ll tell you what I have in mind,” the elder went on, “I cannot fight you, so lets do this the easy way and we both can get what we want. When the farmer comes out, you start chasing me around the yard and after a bit, I’ll fall down and play dead. The farmer will throw me out and onto the trash heap, voilà, we both win. I can sneak away and enjoy my golden years and you get this lovely brood of hens.”

The young rooster thought about this for a moment and decided that it was a lot easier than having to fight this old-timer. So he agreed.

Later that afternoon, the farmer came out of the house and almost immediately, the young rooster started chasing after his elder while squawking and making all sorts of noises.

The farmer seeing this cussed under his breath and went back into the house and grabbing his shotgun, took aim and bang shot the young rooster.

While reloading the gun, the old rooster heard the farmer muttering to himself, “Damn it, third queer bird this month.

Though this blog is not really about politics, the fact is that between the Religious Right (ick) and the Republican Party, both have learned that is much easier to manipulate the public through their fears and hatreds than to take a chance by stating actual positions and take the chance of making a mistake or alienating someone.

The upcoming elections will likely be a PhD in manipulation and the fear of “Radical Muslim” attacks is likely to be brought up and I wouldn’t be surprised if we start having changes in the “Terror Alert” system, you remember that do you not? Just before any vote that would benefit the Republican platform and be debated out easily, would be proceeded by the latest raising of the “Terror Alert Level,” we spent nearly 3 years being conditioned like Pavlov’s dog to do whatever Bush, Cheney and Rumsfeld wanted by this technique. It’s basic Fear 101.

If this were not despicable enough behaviour, now the Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell clones can spend the next several months going on about how we must save marriage from the homosexual agenda and such silliness.

The point I am trying to get across is that no matter what your beliefs, religious or political, expect many people to try and sway your position, including this piece. At least I am honest about it and I am only trying to warn you that others will use much more “knee-jerk” techniques that have shown to be very effective in this country.

Elections and voting in general are serious things, take the time to get more than sound bytes that do not give a complete position. If a political message evokes a strong response, whichever way, look into it, find out who put it out and what are their objectives. Many corporations are going to be gunning for Democrats because they fear the reversal of tax credits and possible increased taxation on some of their insane profits, like the energy companies in particular.

So be awake, be aware and definitely engage your brain, unless you think that those decisions should be taken out of your hands. There are many people and groups out their who are interested only in their positions and don’t care about anything else, don’t help them unless you agree with those positions.

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Written by R. A. Burgener

After finishing the 850 mile trek of self-rediscovery on California's El Camino Real from San Diego to Sonoma, California, Robert continued, via Greyhound, to Portland, Oregon, where he is becoming familiar with the concepts of weather and seasons after 30 years in Los Angeles.

This article has 1 comment

I really admire you thoughts, your views and your passion. You are a very intellectual person and you have a very centered personality. I aim to be like you and I work to be a better person everyday. I wish everybody could be more ‘human’ and learn to love one another instead of alienating people. I wish people would take the time to understand others. Your blog sends out all the right messages and I admire that. A lot.Kris Searle